Ghost Town – Review

The movie’s main man Bertram Pincus (Gervais) is a dentist with some awkward people skills and little patience for remedying this. Overall, he blows through life with an at-best disposition that equals a grouchy hurricane of bitch. He has an upcoming colonoscopy, so he drinks the appropriate prescription drink, evacuates his bowels fully, and undergoes the procedure. Upon waking, the side effects of the operation are unexpected.

Recently deceased and now wandering ghost Frank (Kinnear) notices that Pincus can see and hear him. Local ghosts join the party, looking for help and absolution, while Pincus attempts to figure out how sane he is. Enter Frank’s widow Gwen (Leoni), who is a mix of intelligence and goofiness, and of course attracts Pincus.

Ghost Town is a fairly funny affair the whole way through, since it has a short enough run-time and enough jokes to keep it fresh. While none of it is really “new” either in plot beats or themes, the cast elevates it a level. The script is definitely solid, the jokes are funny, and it is adequately shot.

The supernatural aspect of this movie could have been treated as “goofy” or in a slapstick way, but the movie moves towards a more genuine approach to everything shown onscreen, and it results in a pretty good balance and a fun movie.

While I do like Gervais’ comedy in general, I know some people may not be as familiar with his work, however I would still not hesitate to recommend this one as safe to try for most any audience.